Emma’s Reviews > Mothers and Other Strangers > Status Update
Emma
is 99% done
whooo this was a ride. No one does complex and sometimes flawed characters quite like Corey. The way the two storylines are in conversation with each other just as Sydney and Mae are in conversation with Beth Ann and Joni is done really well. Even if it did sometimes make it hard to figure out who to "root for" in the story sometimes.
— May 07, 2026 08:02AM
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Emma’s Previous Updates
Emma
is 99% done
The way Sydney stays mired in the MLM of LillyLou also doesn't sit right with me. It makes sense and I get it, but after reading two books with cults recently it's impossible to ignore the similarities and it made that whole thread so sad and hard.
— May 07, 2026 08:04AM
Emma
is 99% done
The ending was perfect but also made me a little sad because while Mae is (mostly) making a new path for herself it seems like Sydney is falling into the same patterns as her mother and trapped as much as she was as a child and younger woman. But maybe that's the point? And maybe with the ending we have space to intuit that things will be different after she reconnects with Mae again?
— May 07, 2026 08:03AM
Emma
is on page 349 of 416
It was true. Mae was pretty sure it was nearly true.
— May 05, 2026 07:19PM
Emma
is on page 335 of 416
Secrets could be kept, but the feeling of secrets in the air—that was harder to tamp down.
— May 05, 2026 06:58PM
Emma
is on page 302 of 416
It made sense to be the one in charge of inventing yourself.
— May 05, 2026 06:17PM
Emma
is 74% done
This was almost art. It was art stripped of all depth and beauty.
— May 05, 2026 10:25AM
